“After the Fire USA” (formerly Rebuild North Bay Foundation a nonprofit), threatens CTN with lawsuit. Circling the News stands by its reporting and calls for transparency in wildfire relief funds. CTN also ran the nonprofit’s full written response.
“After the Fire USA,” a Northern California nonprofit focused on wildfire recovery, and its CEO Jennifer Gray Thompson have threatened to sue Circling the News for defamation over a September 28 article titled “Fire Aid Money Never Went to Victims.”
The article reported on resident complaints from the Tahitian Terrace and Palisades Bowl mobile-home parks, whose homeowners said they had not received FireAid relief following last winter’s Pacific Palisades fire.
One resident’s letter expressed frustration with a range of relief efforts and mentioned Thompson and “After the Fire USA” by name, which CTN published.
Circling the News also included Thompson’s unedited 412-word rebuttal the next day on the site under the story.
On October 21, Circling the News received a formal “Demand for Retraction, Correction, and Preservation of Evidence” from attorney Oriet Cohen-Supple of Wright & Supple LLP, representing Thompson and “After the Fire USA.” The seven-page, roughly 2,000-word letter alleges that the story “falsely implies” that After the Fire’s funds did not benefit fire survivors and that Thompson misused charitable donations.
The letter devotes several pages to describing “After the Fire USA’s” programs and accomplishments—information unrelated to the disputed statements—but does not include documentation of how the $500,000 FireAid grant was distributed. Circling the News has asked the organization to provide that information so the public record can be updated accurately.
After receiving that complaint, the editor responded the same day: “There is no problem updating the story. Please have Jennifer send the actual amount of money given to fire victims (because that was the allegation) and the names of the recipients, so I can update the story correctly.”
Cohen-Supple replied that week, asserting that funds “go to fire victims indirectly through the services ATFU (After the Fire USA) has been providing since 2017.”
This editor responded that this confirmed the accuracy of the residents’ comments—that the money had not gone directly to victims—and repeated her request for specific documentation.
As of publication, no lawsuit has been filed.
About the Legal Threat
In California, individuals don’t “sue for defamation” in general—they sue for libel, which refers specifically to written material alleged to be false and damaging.
Circling the News stands by the accuracy and fairness of its reporting and notes that publishing verified resident correspondence and the nonprofit’s full written response are both standard journalistic practices protected under the First Amendment and California’s anti-SLAPP statute, which guards against lawsuits aimed at chilling public-interest reporting.
(Editor’s note: “After the Fire USA’s” full 412-word rebuttal, submitted by Jennifer Gray Thompson on September 29, remains published in its entirety beneath the original article. The October 21 demand letter from Wright & Supple LLP, which totals more than 2,000 words, has been made available to readers in the interest of transparency click here)
I’m grateful to CTN for giving voice to what every victim of the FireAid scam knows: FireAid raised some $16,000 per burned house from kind people who wanted to help us. Not only did I not get a cent of benefit for my share of the $16,000 they raised in my name, but they actually stole goodwill by benefactors who wished to help me, my family and my neighbors. I don’t know a single fire victim who doesn’t feel likewise. Good luck hauling all the victims who give voice to their disgust to court. If they think they can bury the truth by bullying CTN they’ve ripped off the wrong town.
It is about time that all non- profit organization that help the public after a calamity be held accountable for how they spend the money to help victims.
; )
Stand tough, Sue!
I am sorry about this Sue – thanks for your tireless efforts on this excellent publication.
hang in there Sue. There’s an Alta Dena fire benefit concert coming soon, if not already. Wonder how they’ll distribute those funds?
As a resident of the Palisades Bowl I have not received any money from Fire Aid. The only “services” I received were a free week at an Airbnb. I also received money from the Red Cross.
My family was very lucky to receive our insurance payments quickly. However, this money only paid off our mortgage. We don’t have money to rebuild or buy somewhere else unless we borrow money.
I took the time to read the complaint and did not find anything that disproves your thorough study of the road to financial help taking a drastic detour. The attorneys who accepted the case should be ashamed. You should be proud of the work you did and Fire Aid is whining because the truth is pinching like shoes that are too small. Fire Aid is just that; it’s not ambiguous. The best help in this case is cash to the people affected, not the general population. Shame on the organization, Jennifer Gray Thompson and Wright & Supple LLP. Kudos and Thank You to Sue Pascoe. SHE did her homework. It’s a shame that the complainants didn’t do theirs.